


What Was That?

by mattthedungeonbat



Category: Crankgameplays (Youtube RPF), Markiplier (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Boyfriends, Fluff, M/M, Quasiplatonic, qp, queerplatonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 19:31:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9840785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattthedungeonbat/pseuds/mattthedungeonbat
Summary: Ethan hears a noise in the night. Thankfully, Mark is there to keep him calm.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction. The character(s) depicted are made up, but based on real people; please don't bother those real people because of something you read in my work.  
> Based off of http://otp-imagines-cult.tumblr.com/post/153959580880/imagine-your-otp-lying-down-next-to-each-other

It was dark, warm, and perfectly silent. Ethan drifted on the hazy barrier between sleep and wakefulness, his cheek pressed to Mark’s chest. He was tired-- as always --but a small childish part of his mind didn’t want him to sleep. He was there. With Mark. Tangled up in a warm burrito of sheets that smelled like spice and warmth, Mark’s broad hand settled on his shoulder. If he slept, he wouldn’t be able to listen to Mark breathing, he wouldn’t be able to feel the heat that radiated from the other man’s body. He fought the slip into dreams every time it snuck up on him, dragging himself back in a sluggish fight against the riptide.

_ Thump. _

Ethan jolted, adrenalin sparking his body back to life. His heart raced hard against his ribs, and he was sure Mark could feel it. He must have, because he shifted and turned his face towards Ethan.

“You ‘kay?”

“Did you hear that?” Ethan asked in a whisper.

“No.” Mark glanced around the room, movements gummed by sleep. “What’d you hear?”

“It--” Ethan almost didn’t want to describe it. What if he was talking and missed another sound? What if someone was in the house? What if they had a burglar? What if the burglar came into the room? What--

“Hey.” Ethan jumped again, caught up in his thoughts. Mark’s calloused palm found his cheek. “You okay, Ethan? It was probably Chica.”

“I-- yeah, I’m--”

“Ethan,” he felt Mark shift beneath him. “C’mere.”

“I’m--”

One hand applied gentle pressure to Ethan’s shoulder while the other guided his face back towards Mark’s chest. Ethan settled, still tense, aware that his hands were shaking.

“Can you hear my heartbeat?” Asked Mark.

Ethan concentrated. At first it was just silence, and warmth. He tried to focus his hearing through the surface of Mark’s chest. Mark shifted under him, as if giving him permission to move, too. He lined himself up against Mark’s side, and closed his eyes.

There it was. That close, Ethan could not only hear Mark’s heartbeat, he could feel it against him. The hand on his shoulder rubbed up and down, warm and slow, the callouses on Mark’s palms and fingers dragging against his skin. Ethan became aware of the quiet rush of air entering and exiting Mark’s lungs, at the same time losing awareness of his own breath. He felt warm, and heavy, and his eyes were sealing themselves closed against his will. Mark’s body radiated the perfect level of heat to sedate him, even as the little paranoid monkey in his brain begged him to stay awake, just in case.

“Listen to my heart,” Mark said, but all Ethan heard was the bass rumble through Mark’s chest, the words not registering in his foggy mind. He managed to huff out a little breath, the closest thing his exhausted brain could formulate to  _ I am, Mark, jeez. _ Back in the dark, the silence, the pressing warmth and the rush of air and pulse of blood inside Mark’s chest, with the spicy smell of Mark on the sheets, Ethan lost himself to sleep.

In the living room, Chica nosed a fallen book.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first attempt at fanfiction, so please let me know if you see anything that needs fixing!


End file.
